# Smelvis blows my mind.



## castaweb (Apr 24, 2011)

I knew I was going to be up near Smelvis' neck of the woods on Saturday so I contacted him and asked if he would like to get together and maybe shoot the shit and have a cigar. Not only did he agree to meet up but he invited me into his home. I believe what he said was "Come by my house, you can have free reign in my humidor."

I arrived at Dave's house at the agreed upon time and was offered and nice chair and asked "what do you feel like smoking?" As I sat there I think I became a little overwhelmed with what I was seeing. If I am remembering correctly, Dave has 5 humidors in his living room alone. These aren't little desktop cuties but big, fully packed humi's. There are 2 very large cabinets and several others ranging from good sized to merely big. Put it this way. My biggest humi is a treasure dome that is supposed to hold 300+ cigars. Dave's smallest living room humi would probably hold 2 of my largest humi's inside of it. This is not to mention the 2 full sized refrigerators and the 6 giant cooleradors that are in the other room. I am pretty excited. This must be what it feels like to be 10 years old and be at Disneyland for the first time.

I am having a hard time telling him what I would like to smoke because I want to smoke all of it. I finally ask him to pick something out for me that is not too crazy strong because I have an empty stomach. He hands me a Siglo III out of his dry box (Which by the way is about the size of a medium sized household toolbox.....and it's FULL) and we light our cigars.

I feel like I might have been driving Dave crazy with all my questions. It was hard for me to not ask a bunch of questions because in front of me was almost every highly regarded cigar I had ever seen. Most of them in multi box quantities. Like I said, I was asking a million questions and Dave was really patient and gave me the answers. One of the things that I was glad to figure out was that Dave is not a snob. You might think that someone with this much amazing stuff might be arrogant about it. Dave wasn't at all. He answered my questions and didn't show off his knowledge or make me feel stupid for not knowing what he knows.

We had a really good visit and it was time for me to be going. It was great to meet Dave and I was really grateful to be able to share a cigar with him. A Siglo III is not something that is sitting around my house so that was really cool too. When I got up to leave Dave said "Let's get you a little bag with a few things in it for your trip back to Portland." Well, I don't think Dave has a very good understanding of the word "few." He pretty much proceeded to put in a bag one of almost every cigar I asked him questions about. I am talking 15 cigars here. Very good cigars. I am kind of speechless, which is a pretty unusual situation for me.










It is hard to thank someone properly for this kind of act. I did thank Dave profusely but still that seems inadequate. Dave's generosity with his time and this gift is just amazing. I wish I had a better word than generous to describe Dave but I don't. All I can say is thank you.

And Dave, I hope to see you on the 10th at Smokey Joes.


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## Rock31 (Sep 30, 2010)

very cool! I see smelvis has been hitting hard in person!


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## bwhite220 (May 15, 2011)

Great story, Matt! I hope to get the chance to meet and smoke with some of these legends! Not for their generosity but because I would LOVE to just pick their brain and ask them questions about cigars and life in general.

Congrats to you, Matt! The cigars are simply a bonus!


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## Swany (Aug 20, 2010)

Great story bro. Sounds like a kick-ass time. One day, I will make to the far northland and hang with Dave, until than, I will just live through you guys.

Nice bomb too, Dave hits HARD.:dude:


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## blastbeatbill (Aug 18, 2011)

Wow, this is legit! Congrats and enjoy!


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## Vitulla (Aug 6, 2011)

very nice, especially when someone is nice enough to share his passion
some guys have ferraris but you can't even sit in them their so jealous of their stuff
legit bomb! enjoy


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## BMack (Dec 8, 2010)

Very nice and once again Dave proves how generous he is. Above and beyond doesn't begin to describe him. 

I honest to God, wish I was in his neck of the woods just to hang out and let him have full reign of my measly collection.


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## sweater88 (Jul 31, 2011)

Thats awsome brother. Its really not all that hard to believe though. I mean this guy puts countless hours and endless effort into taking care of our soldiers, regardless of things going on his life, health problems for example. Dave is not just one of the great Botl's, but one of the great people on the planet. Its no wonder him and Ron get along so well.


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## shuckins (Jun 24, 2009)

i'm lovin' it!!


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## NoShhhSherlock (Mar 30, 2011)

Way cool! There are some nice sticks there, enjoy the smokes and great in person bomb Dave


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## mturnmm (May 18, 2011)

He is one of the best!


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## smelvis (Sep 7, 2009)

shuckins said:


> i'm lovin' it!!


You can tell Matt was interested in yours Ron I tried to give him one of each I guess I messed up he got 2 c's I also gave him one of your new ones knowing we would both be buyers.

It was nice meeting You Matt thanks for coming by bro!


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## David_ESM (May 11, 2011)

This is the 3rd or 4th of these threads I have seen and it still has not gotten any less incredible.


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## Oldmso54 (Jul 31, 2010)

Matt,

I read that whole post with a HUGE SMILE on my face! It really made my morning. There are some truly fine people in the world. You got to spend some quality time with one of them. Congrats and you brightened my day!!


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## primetime76 (Feb 8, 2011)

Man, I have said it before and I will say it again...I would kill at the opportunity to share a smoke and a chat with Dave...he and Ron are on the top of my Herf list, that is for sure. Just the knowledge that they have about this hobby is astounding. Glad you had the chance bro and glad that it was everything you dreamed it would be!


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## sdlaird (Mar 15, 2011)

Looks like it was a fantastic time. I have the utmost admiration and respect for Smelvis and am now jealous of you for getting a sit down with Oz. I'd love to see what is behind his curtain.

Oldmso54 sort of stole my thunder, but this makes me smile.
:mrgreen:eace::dude::whoo::beerchug::hippie:


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## BlackandGold508 (Jan 23, 2011)

Very fn cool !!! Thanks for sharing this with us. I have said it before, and i'll say it again...guys like Dave, Ron, Gary, Veeral....and even guys like Ray and Kipp ( lol ) Make this place such an amazing community to be a part of !!!!


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## Shibby (Jul 13, 2011)

Yeah. I realized this the day i went over to his house right before i left for college. His collection wow'd me, his gift was way more than i deserved, and the company was fantastic. Daves definitely someone that anyone with the chance should just get together and have a chat with!


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## CALIFORNIA KID (Nov 21, 2010)

nice story thats one hell of a hit


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## primetime76 (Feb 8, 2011)

BlackandGold508 said:


> Very fn cool !!! Thanks for sharing this with us. I have said it before, and i'll say it again...guys like Dave, Ron, Gary, Veeral....and even guys like Ray and Kipp ( lol ) Make this place such an amazing community to be a part of !!!!


shut it...dink! ound:


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## castaweb (Apr 24, 2011)

Oldmso54 said:


> Matt,
> 
> I read that whole post with a HUGE SMILE on my face! It really made my morning. There are some truly fine people in the world. You got to spend some quality time with one of them. Congrats and you brightened my day!!


I am glad you (and many others here) feel that way. I really did have a nice time chatting with Dave and the bomb he hit me with defies description. There are not many people in the real, non-puff world, who approach the kind of generosity that Dave and others of his ilk on this site display here on a regular basis.


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## Rock31 (Sep 30, 2010)

@ Keith, you are now on "the list"


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## primetime76 (Feb 8, 2011)

Rock31 said:


> @ Keith, you are now on "the list"


Let me know if you need hel;p with this portion of the "list" Ray...damn Keith and his floor buffer riding douchbaggery!


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